Electrifying Encounter
by Cory Mellina
Summary: A certain novelist pays a visit to Sunyshore City to deliver a very personal present to the local Gym Leader. ThunderNovelShipping One Shot. Fluff.


"The Gym of this city?," the boy asked curiously. "It's not far away from here. Shall I take you there?"

"That's very nice of you. Thanks!" With that, Shauntal continued her stroll around Sunyshore City on the solar cell walkway, now accompanied by the blue-haired teenager who introduced himself as Lucas.

"You're going to battle him, aren't you?," he asked afterwards, looking at her from the side. Shauntal nodded. _Why not_, she thought, smirking inwards.

"Then I must warn you. He's quite tough. He gave me a really hard time when I tried to battle him myself. To be honest, I never managed to beat him." He shrugged, play acting indifference.

Shauntal didn't fall for his act and said, "Don't give up, Lucas. You've got to believe in yourself—and your Pokémon. The close bond between Trainers and their Pokémon is the key to success, trust me. As a novelist and Elite Trainer alike, I have a keen eye for this."

Lucas nodded absent-mindedly. "Yeah, I guess. But, say, Shauntal—you're not from here, are you? Your accent sounds quite… unfamiliar to me."

"No, you got me. I'm from Unova. Or, more precisely, I'm a member of the Elite Four of Unova."

His brown eyes widened in excitement. "Wow, that's great! I'm not an expert on Pokémon battles—I've got more of a scientific interest in Pokémon—but that makes me admire professional trainers all the more. My girlfriend is a professional, too. I don't get just how you all _do_ this. I've earned seven badges so far, but that took me years. Years!"

"Well, Pokémon training has always been my great passion," Shauntal said flattered.

"But Unova is pretty far away from here, isn't it?", Lucas continued. "So what brings you here, if I may ask?"

"Er, you see, I'm here to do some research for my newest novel."

"You're a novelist as well?! Now that really came out of the blue! Have you started writing it yet?"

"Yes…"

"How's it coming along?"

"Um… frankly… I'm in quite of a writer's block right now. And this is basically the reason I'm here—the story is set in Sunyshore City."

"Cool. What's the title?"

"It… doesn't have a title yet," she said nervously. "I always write the stories before I give them titles."

"Ah. Seems like I'm clueless about writing, too." His gaze trailed away as a sudden hint of bitterness darkened his expression.

"But you are familiar with Sunyshore City, aren't you?," Shauntal tried to cheer him up. "Could you answer me a few questions for my book?"

"Well… I don't even live here, but I'm sure we could give it a shot."

"Right. So, first of all… why is this city brimming of solar cells? That somewhat struck me as odd as I first saw Sunyshore in a TV report."

To her surprise, Lucas gave a short, scornful laugh. "I guess the Gym Leader can answer you this question best."

"Why's that?," Shauntal asked.

"Cause it's all his work. Yup," he confirmed on seeing the astonishment in her face, "he went and rebuilt the whole city a few years ago."

"Wow," was everything she could say.

"I know. He's a genius when it comes to engineering. But apart from that, he's a grumpy bastard."

"I'm sorry?," Shauntal spluttered, not sure whether she'd got his last words right over the sound of the nearby sea crashing powerfully against the rocks that surrounded the seaside of Sunyshore City.

"So, here it is—Sunyshore Gym!," Lucas exclaimed at that point and halted in front of an unremarkable white building with a brown roof. Compared to Elesa's blinking and sparkling Gym back in Unova, this one didn't fall short of a warehouse. Shauntal was nearly disappointed, but she pulled herself together again quickly. After all, it suited him in some ways.

"Thank you for guiding me, Lucas!," she exclaimed cheerfully. "It was really nice to talk to you."

"And so was talking to you. Good luck then—for the battle and for your novel." They smiled at each other one last time before saying their goodbyes. Lucas turned away from the Gym while Shauntal entered it, mentally apologizing to the friendly teen for lying to him.

There never was and possibly never will be a novel set in Sunyshore City by her.

She didn't even know herself why she'd lied to him. Perhaps just for the hell of it—in some way, it made her feel like she was on a secret mission or something. That thought made her grin.

It didn't take long until she solved Volkner's cogwheel riddle and stood in front of him eventually.

His face did not change a bit when he recognized the young woman.

"A rematch?," he asked in a bored tone, already taking out his first Pokéball.

"No, not today," Shauntal replied softly, heading towards the Gym Leader without hesitation.

Volkner just stared at her and Shauntal was pleased about the sudden hint of bemusement in his stony expression.

"_Do you know Thunderbolt?_," she aspirated after coming to a halt just a few inches before him.

"Whatever do you mean?," he asked in bewilderment, taking a step back instinctively.

Shauntal let off a childish giggle. "You really don't remember, do you? Those were the first words you said to me when you challenged me."

"I see. So?"

"They inspired me to write a novel. It's become a bestseller in Unova. To cut a long story short—I came here to give you a copy of it." Saying so, she opened her handbag, took out a thick paperback bearing the title _'Electrifying Encounter' _and handed it over to a speechless Volkner.

"So… that's it. End of story. I just wanted to say thank you, so… here we are." And before Volkner had the chance to find his voice again, Shauntal already leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Bye then, Volkner!," she called shortly afterwards, already halfway out of the gym.

Her cheeks were burning red as if she were a school girl and she could literally sense the disbelieving gazes of the other trainers following her up to the door, but Shauntal couldn't care less.

Taking a deep breath of the fresh sea air outside the Gym, she thought to herself that writing a book set in Sunyshore City wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.

* * *

A/N: I know the story isn't good, seeing that my knowledge of this language doesn't exceed school English. I wrote this fic over a year ago and I just submitted it because I haven't read anything about this pairing yet.  
Apologies if I have wasted your time. However, criticism – or plain pointing out of mistakes – is greatly appreciated here. If one of you could even imagine to betaread this story, I'd be honoured.

Thanks for reading!

- Cory Mellina


End file.
